


Exodus

by Mythological_Compendium



Series: WTHYW [2]
Category: Supernatural, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Claudia Stilinski, Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby Stiles Stilinski, Car Accidents, Crossover, Demonic Possession, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/M, M/M, Mentions of PostPartum Depression, Minor Character(s), Original Character Death(s), POV Alternating, Peter Hale is Jackson's father, Time Skips, Young Derek Hale, Young Laura Hale, because that's how it should be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-21 04:52:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3678264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythological_Compendium/pseuds/Mythological_Compendium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You'll call him Stiles."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Marin Morrell

**Author's Note:**

> I am sooOOoOoo sorry that this took so long to update like so sorry!  
> Two years jeesh.

There was no answer at the door the first time Marin knocked so she balled her hand into a fist and pounded harder.

“Alan!” She yelled into the wood. “Alan, it’s Marin, please open the door. Al—”

The lock disengaged a second before the door opens to reveal her brother.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“I need to talk to you.” She replied as she pushed past him into the living room. “There’s something really weird going on at the Stilinski house and I don’t know who else to go to.”

Alan furrowed his brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “I thought you said you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

She sighed. “I’m a teenager, you should expect that stuff from me.”

Alan smiled softly. “Weird how?”

Marin dropped onto the couch. “Okay so you know how I told you about the first day I was babysitting and Mrs. Stilinski threatened to fire me if she hears me calling the baby Mieczyslaw instead of Stiles?”

“Mhm.” He took the seat next to her.

“Well, all that stuff people were saying was true because over the next couple of days I started noticing some really… _off_ stuff like Sheriff Stilinski dotes on Stiles. He can’t get enough of him like as soon as he walks through the door, Stiles is in his arms but Mrs. Stilinski _never_ touches him. We’re there all day with the baby and it’s like she can’t stand to be near him. She leaves the room whenever I walk in with him, she flinches every time he makes a sound and she hardly ever looks at him.”

Alan shook his head. “That’s probably due to something postpartum.”

Marin gritted her teeth.

“A lot of new mothers experience it.” He added.

“It’s not like that,” Marin countered, “It’s…” She sighed deeply. “There was also the time I was rocking him to sleep in the hallway and I walked by her room and heard her talking on the phone…to her mom, or something. Claudia wanted her to take Stiles for a while. Said she had something to do but she couldn’t while _it_ was here.” Marin licked her lips. “And that’s another thing too, she always talks about him like he’s a _thing_ and not a _person_. Is _that_ typical postpartum behavior too?”

Alan shook his head solemnly.

Marin chewed her lip. “Well I don’t suppose that what happened tonight is either.”

Her brother raised his brow expectantly.

“Right before I left, I saw her standing over his crib while he slept, staring down at him. When I asked what she was doing she turned around and it looked like she was hiding something behind her back. She just sort of…shrugged and laughed and said she wasn’t doing anything then she walked right passed me, the whole time with her hand still behind her back.” Marin gasped softly and folded her fingers together when she felt her hands shaking. “He was fine when I checked on him, still asleep, but I know he’s not safe there Alan…I have to get him out of that house.”

“You can’t just _take_ him.” Alan argues, “You’re just a kid yourself, what are you going to do with a baby?”

“If not me then who?” She exclaimed. “It’s not like I can go to the Sheriff about this problem, it’s _his_ wife and child!”

“Hold on,” He put up his hands in a placating gesture. “You said that Claudia was trying to get her mother to take him. That sounds reasonable right? He’ll still be with family.”

“Who knows how long it might take before she agrees, _if_ she agrees. She’s probably too old to take care of a newborn on her own anyway and he could be dead by then.”

“Okay,” He rests his hands on her shoulders to calm her. “I’ll see if I can contact someone who can actually help. It might take a while for them to arrive—” He put up his hand, to stop her protest then continued, “— _but_ they’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.”

She took a deep breath and seemed to settle so he dropped his hands from her arms.

“You should be home by now right?” He asked.

She nodded absently, her mind going back to the image of Claudia over Stiles’ crib.

“You should go.” He patted her knee. “The Morrells will be worried.”

Marin inhaled deeply again then stood up from the couch, knowing that her brother was right about her adoptive parents.

“Thank you.” She said. He pursed his lips and nodded.

“Keep me updated.”

“I will.”

She took another deep breath of the warm autumn air as she walked back to her car.

\------

It was as if Marin could feel Claudia’s eyes boring into the back of her head as she leaned down to slowly place the baby into his crib, but when she turned around there was no one in the doorway. But the shadow moving along the carpet told her that Claudia was just there, watching her, watching them both.

Marin looked down at Stiles. “Don’t worry kiddo,” She whispers as she reached in to brush a hand over his head. “I’m gonna get you outta here, one way or another. I promise.”

She left the door open with one last look over her shoulder at the baby before moving to the stairs.

“Marin,” Claudia said, startling the teenager as she reached the bottom. “It’s been a long day, no?” She smiled. “I think you should just go ahead and take off early.”

Marin freezes. “Wh-what? Why?”

“Like I said, it’s been a long day and,” Claudia shrugged. “I’d like to spend some alone time with my son.”

Marin gulped, her heart starting to pound in her chest as she looks back up the stairs. “Uh…well I should probably stick around until the Sheriff comes back. After all, that’s what you hired me to do and I wouldn’t want him to be upset with me.”

“Oh no, it’s fine, I’ll cover for you.” She replied lightly. “Oh and before I forget,” Claudia pulls five twenty-dollar bills out of her back pocket and smiled sweetly as she handed it over. “Your pay through this week.”

“Thank you.” Marin said, taking the money.

“Now go,” She said, gently nudging Marin’s shoulder. “Enjoy the early evening at home with your family.”

“Okay,” She forced a smile and tucked the money into her jacket pocket as she headed for the door. “Good night Mrs. Stilinski.”

Claudia nodded. “Goodbye Marin.”

The teenager would've ducked around to the side of the house and stuck around for a while if Claudia hadn't stood by the door, smiling, waving and waiting until she got into her car.

Marin's heart was racing as she drove away from the house but she didn't stay gone for long. She doubled back and rolled up slowly to the house. From the outside, it looked so innocuous, no one would ever guess what could be happening inside. She hopped out of the car and headed up the driveway. Using the key the Sheriff gave her, she unlocked the door as quickly and quietly as she could and stepped inside.

The downstairs lights are off but there is a light coming from upstairs. From the direction of the light cast on the wall, it looked like it was coming from the bathroom. Marin started up the stairs, careful to avoid that creak in the middle step.

Once she reached the top of the stairs, she heard the sound of water sloshing then Claudia's voice say, "Shhh baby, it'll be over soon."

Marin sprang into action and pushed through the bathroom door. She didn't take long to assess the sight in front of her before she was shoving Claudia away and grabbing Stiles out of the tub. She held him close and ran with him out of house straight to her car where she threw open the back door and started quickly buckling him into the car seat.

Stiles started fussing and she'd never been happier to hear the sound because that meant he was still breathing. She took one look last at the house before climbing in behind the wheel and peeling out of the driveway, intent on going to the Sheriff's Department.

The baby was wailing in the backseat as Marin drove, which was unusual since he always went right to sleep the second the car he was in started moving. Marin thought he might have just missed his mother and the thought made her queasy. She pushed down harder on the gas.

"It's okay, little guy." She cooed to the rearview mirror. "You'll be with your daddy s—"

Marin went barreling straight into the other unsuspecting driver that was coming out of a side road.

She woke some time later when she felt a sudden huff of air against her face. Raising her hand to brush against her cheek, Marin opened her eyes and blinked blearily at the sight before her.

Once her vision cleared, panic rose in Marin’s chest when she realized the front end of her Honda was buried in the side of the other driver's car. She swung around—suffering a sharp pain that skitters down her spine for the effort—to find the backseat empty.

“Stiles!” Marin screamed as she unlocked her seatbelt with unsteady hands so she could stretch over the gearshift, hoping the baby hadn’t slipped underneath either of the seats but she didn’t find him.

Marin turned to find her phone where it had slid off the passenger seat and quickly dialed 911 as she climbed out of the car. Her eyes quickly glanced around for Stiles as she made her way over to the other car.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” asked the tinny voice on the other end of the call.

“H-hi, my name is Marin Morrell and…and I just got into an accident with another driver.”

The other car's driver’s side door was bent where Marin’s Honda was buried in it. The driver—a woman—lay unconscious behind the wheel. There’s blood on her face and dripping thickly from between her agape mouth. The sight makes Marin's stomach lurch and she turns away from it only for something on the curb to catch her eye.

Stiles’ car seat was sitting upright at the side of the road with Stiles safely buckled inside it, sitting quietly and with his fist in his mouth. Marin exhales deeply and smiles as she walks over to it, quickly checking to see the backseat of the other car empty of other passengers.

“Ma’am?” The voice brings Marin's attention back to the device.

“Yes? Sorry."

“What is your location?”

“Oh uh…I’m—” She looked around frantically for a street sign. She found none, but she recognized her surroundings. “We’re on Rosen about a mile outside the Preserve. Uh, please, please hurry, the other driver is really hurt and I've—I’ve got the Sherriff’s son with me.”

“I’ve dispatched a unit and they’re on their way but, did you just say you have the Sherriff’s son?”

“Y-yeah?” Marin picks up the car seat and totes it back over to the other car. “I’m his babysitter.”

“He’s on his way.”

“Thank you," Marin breathed before hanging up.

In hindsight, Marin thought she probably should've stayed on the call but she was more concerned about dropping to her knees and making sure that Stiles was indeed okay.

Stiles wasn't crying but he stared unwaveringly at Marin as she checked him for any scratches or bruises. Finding none, she exhaled deeply then brushed her hand over his little head.

"You're one tough little man, aren't you?" She smiles and Stiles giggles back at her, kicking his feet.

The sound of a groan came from behind her and Marin quickly stood to find that the woman in the other car was waking.

"Ma'am," Marin said she made her way back to the passenger's side window.

The woman turned her head and blinked before letting out a pained grunt.

"I'm sorry," Marin cried and babbled, "I'm so sorry, I didn't watch where I was going and I was speeding and I crashed into you but," She turned over her shoulder and listened for sirens but she couldn't hear any. "The police are on their way."

“Okay,” The woman coughed and nodded, "Okay," as she tried to readjust herself in the seat.

"Y-you probably shouldn't be moving so much," Marin said, watching as the woman pulled at her dress to see where her other arm was pinned. "You might hurt yourself worse." She thought belatedly about how she hadn’t take her own advice instead of fumbling around haphazardly when she was looking for Stiles.

To Marin's surprise, the woman laughed.

"What’s your name, honey?” She grunted.

“Marin. Marin Morrell."

She finally leaned back and smiled softly. “Hi Marin, I’m Maggie…it’s nice to meet you.”

Marin pursed her lips. "Nice to meet you too."

"Wish we could've met under different circumstances, you seem like a very nice girl."

Marin nodded, "You too."

She heard sirens approaching and she turned over her shoulder again.

"Can you see them?" Maggie asked.

"No, but I can hear them."

"Can you see lights?"

Marin shook her head. "No."

She whipped her head back around when Maggie let out another groan and jerked the car a little with a full-body spasm before exhaling deeply.

Maggie turned to Marin with that soft smile again. “D’you think you could do something for me?”

“Sure,” Marin looked back again to see flashing lights on the horizon. “Sure, what is it?"

“Make—make sure that the Sheriff finds my boys. Can you do that?" She pulled in a ragged breath and Marin could still see the blood pooled between her lips. "Make sure he finds them and tell them that I love them, okay?”

Marin shook. “What?”

Her breath caught in her throat and she glanced down at the Stiles, who was still looking back at her with his wide brown eyes, before she turned back to look up the road. The ambulances were the first to round the bend, then three Sheriff's Department vehicles.

"N-no see they're almost here. They're right here, Maggie, just—" She glanced back at Maggie then at the road again. "I can see the—"

When she turned around again, Maggie was staring back at her but Marin could tell something was different.

"Maggie?" Tears pricked her eyes as she softly called the name but she received no response, just that blank stare.

There was a hand resting on her shoulder before someone, an EMT, came into her vision blocking her staring back into Maggie's eyes.

"Hey, are you Marin?"

She nodded.

"Can you come with me?"

Another nod and she was being pulled away, stopping to pick up Stiles' car seat as she was turned around toward the bright headlights coming from the ambulances.

After getting the okay from the EMT checking Marin over, a deputy stepped up to the ambulance where she sat, a shock blanket wrapped around her shoulders, watching them pull Maggie's body from her car. Maggie wasn't just trapped underneath the door of her car where Marin rammed into her, something had punctured her side, if all the blood dripping down her dress was any indication. She knew she was going to die, yet she tried her best to keep Marin calm. Marin could barely answer the deputy's questions, the details of the accident fresh in her mind but she couldn't bring herself to relay them through her mouth. Instead, she sat watching, mostly silent as they zipped up Maggie's body bag.

"Just one more question, Ms. Morrell," The deputy said. "Where were you taking the Sherriff's son?"

At that, Marin locked eyes with the deputy then looked around at the crowd of people surrounding the crash until she found Sheriff Stilinski standing not too far away, Stiles cradled in his arms, rocking him.

Marin shook her head. "I'll only tell _him_." She said simply.

The deputy looked back at the Sheriff.

"Do you want me to get him for you?"

She nodded and the deputy walked over to the Sheriff. They exchanged a few words before Sheriff Stilinski starts walking toward the ambulance with Stiles still in his arms.

He sighed deeply when he reached her but didn't say a word.

"I wasn't trying to kidnap him." She blurted.

The Sheriff gave her a smile. "I know that Marin but," He shook his head. "What were you thinking speeding like that with him in the car? You—"

"I know," Marin sobbed. "I know and I'm so sorry but...I needed to get him out of the house, away from her..."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Marin gulped, "I mean...I had get him away from Claudia, Sir cos...because I think she was trying to kill him."

The Sheriff stared at her for a second before shaking his head. "What?"

"I swear I'm not lying," Marin assured, "She sent me home home early saying that she just wanted to spend some quality time with Stiles but, I'd left my phone in the house," She lied, "And when I went back upstairs, I...I saw her holding him under water in the bathtub, Sir." She took a deep breath when she was finished. "That's why I was speeding, I needed to get him to the station as fast as possible and I'd only looked away from the road for a _second_ before..."

She looked over as the EMTs pushed the stretcher carrying Maggie's body into the other ambulance and sobbed again.

"Did you know her?" Sheriff Stilinski asked softly.

Marin's lip quivered as she shook her head.

"Margaret Hale." He sighed deeply and wiped a free hand down his face. "Her son Jackson was born to her and her husband, Peter, a few months before Stiles." He shook his head. "Claudia had Mommy-and-Me classes with her."

Marin blinked back the tears forming in her eyes. As if she didn't feel terrible enough as it is.

"She uh...she wanted me to tell you to find them and tell them she loves them." Marin sniffled and lowered her head, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of het shirt. "I'm so sorry, I was stupid."

Sheriff Stilinski reached out with the hand not holding Stiles to rest on her shoulder.

"You're not stupid." He said. She looked up at him again to find his face a solemn mask. "I've noticed that Claudia's been…let's just say that I'm not all that surprised that this happened." He sighed and shrugged his arm to readjust Stiles, who looked like he was about to fall asleep. "I guess...I just thought she'd eventually warm up to him y'know?" He squeezed her shoulder and she rested her hand over his. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through this but thank you. Thank you so much for saving his life."

Marin pursed her lips and nodded.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"Right now? I'm gonna get you home." He pulled gently on her shoulder to get her up out of the back of the ambulance. "After that, I don't know."

He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and walked her over to his cruiser.


	2. Something like Thirteen Percent

Claudia had refused to call him by her father’s name so she was thankful for Noah's family name. Stiles. It took her barely any time to convince him that other kids would probably make fun of Stiles if he went by _her_ father's name.

“Wait a second,” He said as he spoon-fed the baby pureed peas. “Why are we even talking about nicknames and Day Care and other kids when he can barely sit up by himself?”

“We need to get an early start on his education,” She answered. “The first few months are critical.”

She never told him the real reason for wanting to start this early was because she didn’t want to be left alone with Stiles when he was at work. Whenever Noah was home, he did the playing, the changing, the singing and rocking to sleep. Claudia only did the feeding and she could barely bring herself to look at Stiles while he suckled.

Noah said he understood. He read somewhere that some mothers take a while to get used to a new baby.

Later she wondered how long was too long.

 _He’ll probably end up having a few demonic tendencies_ , The demon's words rang in Claudia’s mind when she lay in bed with her husband sleeping soundly next to her, his arm over her middle. _But only time will tell_.

Claudia always thought about that whenever she tried to go to sleep. She already likened having Stiles to the weeks before she was possessed, like something was circling, watching and waiting for the right time to take.Every day the boy got stronger and she got weaker. What would happen when she was too weak to fight? What would Stiles do to her? To Noah?

It was in that moment that Claudia made her decision.

The first time, she made seem like a complete accident. She left Stiles sitting in his stroller to look around the grocery store then she pretended to just sort of…forget about him by the time she got to the cash register. She was halfway to the car when she heard someone shouting out for her, shouting that she had forgotten her son inside. She wouldn’t have to bother telling Noah about that little mishap, rumors spread like wildfire through this part of Beacon County.

_Did you hear she left him in a grocery store? Walked right out and left him there!_

The second time she left his stroller in the middle of a crowd at the traveling carnival. When Noah found her minutes later without Stiles, he panicked, tore the grounds apart and Claudia watched, hoping that he wouldn’t be found. Only a few minutes had passed before she felt a tug on her skirt. Claudia turned to find Laura Hale standing there, her hand on her younger brother’s shoulder and in the boy’s arms, Stiles. He held the baby out to his mother wordlessly then they turned and walked away once Claudia took him. She noticed Talia Hale standing not too far away in the crowd, running her hand over her pregnant belly as she waited for her elder children to return. Noah caught up to Claudia then. They left the carnival immediately and he didn't speak to her the whole ride home. Claudia was more upset about the stroller being missing. It was a gift.

Little things like that kept happening. Every once in while she'd put him down and walk away, and every time someone would bring him back.

There was a point where the rumors reached her own ears. _And that thing at the fair! Lucky the Hales were even there or who knows where that baby’d be. Probably safer than he is now._ She would hear whispers wherever she went, would feel eyes on her whenever she traveled with Stiles.

Noah hired a babysitter, Marin Morrell, to fill the place when he wasn’t there. He thought it would help.

The girl called the baby by his grandfather’s name and Claudia knew she had been practicing it, wanting to impress because she said it perfectly. Claudia felt bad for threatening to can her if she called him by that name again and Marin, a look of confusion and a little fear in her eyes, nodded.

“You’ll call him Stiles.” Claudia said, through her teeth to accent her point.

Marin apologized over and over again, even when she was leaving. It was only the first day and she didn’t want to get fired over a name. Claudia thought it was sweet. It also made her consider concentrating all her time and effort on Marin instead.

The girl was more or less a live-in babysitter over the summer. She came in at seven in the mornings when Noah was leaving for work and didn’t go home most nights until ten.

Granted she didn’t especially enjoy having Stiles in her home, making her uneasy, disrupting her sleep and taking all of her husband’s attention but whenever Marin was around Claudia exaggerated her disdain. She made sure to never touch him in front of her, he was old enough to be bottle-fed now anyway. She made a face whenever he crawled over to her or left the room altogether whenever Marin walked in with him. She jumped every time he made a sound and hardly ever looked at him. Once she was sure that Marin was taking notice, she moved on to the next phase.

Claudia made sure the door was cracked when she made that fake phone call to her mother and had held one of Stiles’ toys in her hand behind her when Marin caught her standing over the crib, watching the baby sleep. She smiled when she heard the waver in Marin’s voice when she asked what she was doing, the wary way she watched Claudia as she moved passed through the doorway.

It was terrible torturing the girl like that because Claudia really did like Marin but…some things are more important. Besides, it would all be over soon.

_If it wasn’t for the Sheriff, I’d say someone should take that baby away. Poor guy._

Claudia tapped her foot against the hardwood as she stood by the front door, watching the clock. It had to be timed perfectly. Marin had just left the driveway and—if Claudia knew the girl as well as she thought—she would be doubling back any minute now. She waited two minutes after Marin left then walked upstairs, shutting off the first floor lights before going to the bathroom where she went to run water in the tub. At three minutes, she went to Stiles' room and saw him standing up in his crib, smiling at her around the pacifier in his mouth. Claudia had to push down that sick feeling again as she picked the baby up and brought him into the hallway. She waited with him by the window at the end of the hall until she saw Marin’s car turn the corner. The girl had turned the headlights off. Noah would be proud. Claudia walked into the bathroom and sat with Stiles on the edge of the tub after turning off the faucet. There was enough water in there to cover her feet, not nearly enough to hurt him even if she laid him on his back, but Marin wouldn’t know that. Claudia waited for the faint sound of the front door opening then, after a touch to make sure the water wasn't too hot or cold, Claudia placed Stiles into the tub to stand so his diaper wouldn’t get wet. No sense adding that problem to the list. She couldn’t hear Marin’s footsteps starting up the stairs so she must’ve skipped the creaky step. Claudia shook her head and started slowly running one hand through the water while the other kept the baby upright. Claudia had purposefully left the bathroom door ajar so that they would be found quickly. Stiles started fussing and kicking his feet.

"Shhh baby, it'll be over soon," Claudia said, looking slightly over her shoulder.

The bathroom door burst open a second before Claudia was being pushed to the side.

She must have hit her head because she woke to an empty house some time later.

That was it, Claudia knew. After all those months of pretending to threaten Stiles’ life, her plan had come to fruition. She knew that Marin would take Stiles to his father, knew that Noah would be forced to send Stiles away to her parents for a while, until he can figure out a way to properly take care of his wife. After all, the demon said she couldn't _kill_ him. It said nothing about removing him.

He didn’t scream at her like she assumed he would, even after he had brought Stiles back to his crib. He was usually a calm man, level-headed, but she expected _something_. It would be the proper reaction. She would be livid if the situation were reversed.

“Maggie Hale is dead.” He said when he returned downstairs and walked over to the fridge to grab a beer.

Claudia’s stomach fell. He told her that in her haste to get Stiles to his father, Marin had crashed into Maggie’s car. Claudia had to sit down.

“What about Jackson and Peter?” She queried in a small voice.

“Is that really the family you should be concerned about right now?”

She could hear the vitriol in his voice then.

“What the hell happened, Claudia?” He asked, settling across from her in the living room with the beer in his hand. “Why did you do this?”

"I don't want him." She replied simply then watched his face crumble.

He blinked rapidly at her, brow furrowed, saying nothing.

His voice broke when he finally spoke, "What are you talking about?"

"I want that child out of my house, Noah." She spoke slowly, willing herself not to break down when she saw tears welling in his eyes. “I want him gone.”

“No,” He blinked the tears away. “No, you don’t mean that.”

“Yes I do,” She pressed. “Noah, we can try again, we can have another baby.”

“No we can’t!” His shout startled her this time. “No,” He closed his eyes rubbed his temples. “No, we’ll just…we’ll send him away for a little while. Maybe he can stay with your parents ‘til you get better.”

“There _is_ no _getting better_. I don’t _want_ him here.”

“We’ve been trying to have a baby for so long, Claudia, what are you talking about you don’t want him here?”

"He's not our baby, Noah, he’s wrong...he’s an ab—”

"Stop it!" She snapped her mouth shut and watched him press the bottle against his forehead. There’s nothing but silence between them for a while until Noah said, “I’ll call your mom to come get him in the morning.” He exhaled heavily then got up from his seat. “You’re sleeping down here tonight. I don’t trust you upstairs with our son.”

With that, Noah pushed passed her to get to the stairs.

_Y'know I heard she’s got some brain thing like her old man._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a time-skip here in the next chapter.  
> It jumps to six months later so Stiles is one.


	3. Stiles Winchester

Dean picked up the phone on the second ring and grunted, "Sam?" as he sat up on the worn mattress. He could hear the soft whirring of Sam's car engine in the background. "What's wrong?"

"This job..." Sam started but left his sentence hanging, waiting for Dean's sigh of exasperation.

“ _Dude_ we talked about this, home invasions are a police problem.”

There was a beat before his brother answered, “We've gone on the road for less, Dean. _Five_ couples were slaughtered in that part of town and their babies were taken from their _locked_ houses, all within _days_ of each other.” Sam scoffed bitterly in his ear. "And…as it turns out, it _wasn’t_ some psycho running around collecting babies for baby stew, it was a _shifter_ running around collecting babies for baby stew."

Dean furrowed his brow and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

“How d’you know it’s a shifter?”

“There was shifter chunks all over the first floor of that last house…like it exploded in every room.”

Dean took a moment to push that image from his mind.

“So it’s dead? The job’s done?”

“Seems that way.”

“What about the family?”

“Parents were dead.” Sam sighed, “Maimed beyond recognition.”

Dean shut his eyes and gulped. “And the kid?”

There was a soft thud on the other end before Sam took a breath.

“That’s another thing.”

“What do you mean?”

Dean heard the sound of the door opening echo from the front room of the house they're squatting in and through the phone.

“Sam, what do you mean ‘that’s another thing’?”

The sound of the front door opening and closing reaches both of Dean’s ears before the line cut off.

"Is everything okay?" Cas asked before his palm rested on Dean’s shoulder.

"I…don’t know," Dean replied as he dropped the phone onto mattress then stood up, heading for the front room.

"Sam?" He called. “What did you mean by—”

Sam was in the process of lighting the oil lamp in the front room when Dean walked in. His question halted when he saw what Sam had set down on the floor in the middle of the room. He gulped and stared a moment longer before his gaze flickered back to his brother.

“Before you say anything,” Sam said quickly, holding up his palms to Dean. "I found it."

“No.” Dean pointed his finger at the car seat with the baby inside it. “You _find_ loose change, you _find_ a dead body in the woods, you don’t just _find_ a baby."

Sam furrowed his brow. “ _What_?”

“Why’d you take it?” Dean boomed.

“Him,” rang Castiel’s voice behind Dean. “It’s a boy.”

"Uh," Sam stuttered, "H-Hey Cas."

"Hello Sam." Castiel smiled warmly at the younger Winchester without taking his eyes off the child. “Would you mind?”

“No, um, go right ahead.” Sam said then turned to give his brother a curious look.

Dean replied with a scowl.

Sam licked his lips and wiped his hand down his face.

"I took him because his parents are dead and he has nowhere to go."

"Yes he does,” Dean countered, "Right into the system."

Sam scoffed, "The sys—"

"He's just a baby, Dean," Cas interjected from his place on the floor, crouched in front of the carrier.

"Yeah _exactly_ , he's a baby and we..." Dean made a circular gesture between the three of them. "...are not equipped to deal with babies. Who knows why the shifter wanted him in the first place, cuz I don’t remember baby-eating in the profiles.”

“It was working with a demon,” Sam said. “I found sulfur in the fourth house.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dean muttered, closing his eyes for a moment. “You mean to tell me that these things might’ve _actually_ been making baby stew?”

Sam pursed his lips and shrugged while Cas wore a look of horror on his face.

“It’s a good thing you found him," Cas said softly as he ran his hands over the baby’s head. “A blessing.”

Dean snorted, “Great, Cas went and imprinted on him.”

“He’s only a year old, Dean!” Cas asserted. “Sam did the right thing.”

“And you have always wanted to start a family," His brother added.

“Well not _right now_!” Dean looked back and forth between the two of them in disbelief. “And we’re _hunters_! We c—"

“Not anymore,” Sam and Cas replied in unison.

Dean scoffed, “You _literally_ just came back from a hunt with the kid."

Sam rolled his eyes. “Dean, I found out about the case when I met up with Sarah, I didn’t seek it out.”

He watched his brother soften.

“You found Sarah?” Dean asked.

“Yeah.” Sam pursed his lips. “We saw the story in the newspaper.”

Dean took a deep breath then sighed it out as he looked over to Cas then the baby.

“What about the rest of his family?” He said after a moment, his eyes drifting back to Sam. “There’s bound to be someone missing him.”

"I could look around and see," Castiel offered, standing.

"Yeah,” Dean nodded. “Do that."

In the blink of an eye, Castiel was gone, leaving the two brothers and the baby alone to stare between themselves.

Sam took a deep breath and Dean gritted his teeth for the inevitable question.

“So how long have you and Cas—”

Dean cut in, “The kid have a name?”

Sam shook his head. “Yeah, uh, Stiles.”

“ _Stiles_?”

Sam shrugged. “That’s what it says on the blanket he's covered up in.”

Dean nodded then went to take the place Castiel just vacated.

“Since he pulled you outta Hell,” he said, giving Sam a quick smile followed by, “Couldn't think of a better way to tell the guy thanks, y'know?”

“You’ve been together practically this whole time?”

“We’re not… _exclusive_ or anything…” Dean replied, refusing eye-contact with his brother. “We’re just tryin’ stuff out.”

“Oh, so—”

“There’s no one,” Castiel announced upon his return. “The people Sam found were his grandmother and her neighbor, but there’s no sign of either parent or extended families.”

Sam and Cas looked to Dean.

“Okay,” He sighed deeply as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Say we _do_ keep him…we don’t have the money _or_ the stability to take care of a kid long-term.”

“I can get us the money.” Cas said.

Dean furrowed his brow. “How?”

Castiel gives him a hard look. “I’m an angel, Dean.”

Dean blinked. “Fair enough, but…what about hunting?" He continued despite twin eye rolls from Cas and Sam. “What if we just happen upon a case like Sam did and we have to go slicing and dicing? Who’s gonna watch him then?"

Cas opened his mouth but Sam cut in, “Sarah said she would." He shrugged when Dean gave him a look. “We had a while to talk about it.”

Dean sighed, “Alright, then I guess all that’s left is to decide who’s playing Daddy.”

Cas tilted his head. “I thought that would be you.”

“ _Me_? _Why_?”

"He's _beautiful_ , Dean," Cas replied easily. "His eyes hold so much light...it would not be at all difficult for others to believe that you are his father."

Dean clenched his jaw when he felt himself starting to flush.

“And you _are_ the most equipped out of all of us,” Sam added.

Dean pressed his lips together and nodded. “Okay well…if we’re actually gonna do this then…then we're gonna need baby supplies a—"

"I've got some stuff in the car," Sam said.

Dean nodded and continued, "And proper fake documentation.”

He looked down at Stiles then reached out and gently shook the car seat.

“You’re already such a hassle.”

Stiles blinked three times before his face broke out in a smile.

A short laugh bubbled in Dean’s throat before he looked up to see the others staring at him with small smiles of their own.

He cleared his throat. “Shut up.”


	4. Claudia Stilinski

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time jump back to some weeks after Stiles went to go live with his grandmother.

Noah started working longer shifts at the precinct. It had been weeks since Stiles went to stay with her mother and though Claudia felt better not having Stiles around—better than she had in months—she was starting to regret getting rid of him in the first place.

Whenever Noah was home, he only exchanged clipped sentences with her as he made his way to the fridge or the cupboard then to the kitchen table where all his reports and notes were spread out across the surface. He hadn’t been home in time for dinner in weeks so she took just eating alone in front of the television while his dinner sat in the oven. Some mornings she would wake up to find it still there.

She would watch him sometimes, studying the way he pressed his palm to his forehead to relieve the headache the booze and stress had formed. She wanted to hold him, kiss him better but he wouldn’t want that. They hadn’t touched each other since Stiles left.

Claudia thought about driving to the next town over and retrieving the baby, if only to put her marriage back on track but Noah would see right through that and besides, Claudia’s mother would never allow it. Adrianna doesn’t pass up opportunities to spend time with the grandson named after her dearly departed husband, not to mention that her favorite son-in-law probably told her every detail of why Stiles needed to be out of the house.

Her only option was to wait until he came around and she had no idea when that would be.

Claudia was awoken from her nap by a knock at the front door. She stared at it, waiting for the knock to sound again before she sat up.

Noah was there when she fell asleep but he was gone now. She frowned when she looked around and realized he hadn’t left a note. He always left a note saying where he went whenever he left while she was asleep. It was silly to expect that he still would.

The sound of knocking came again. Claudia grunted as she got up from the couch and moved over to the front door. Through the peephole, she saw their mail carrier and her brow furrowed. Sal didn’t usually come up to the door to deliver the mail. Claudia palmed the door handle but once she pulled it open, there was no one standing there.

A bolt of fear ran through her and she slammed the door shut again then locked it before starting to back away.

“Claudia?” She heard Sal’s voice call from the other side of the door.

She slapped a hand over her own mouth to stop the cry that almost broke from her lips. Her back hit something solid and she gasped in a shaky breath through her fingers.

“Sweetheart,” came Sal’s voice by her ear a second before Claudia was being shoved to the floor with a letter opener pressed to her neck. “Didn’t you hear me knocking? I try to be courteous and this is how you treat me.” Sal blinked and her blue eyes turned black. “How rude.”

Claudia tried to let out cry now but the demon took hold of her throat and squeezed tight as it stroked the flat of the blade down her cheek.

"Where's Mieczyslaw?"

She grabbed at Sal’s wrist, futilely trying to free herself from the grasp.

"Please..." She gasped out.

"Much as I love your begging," It pulled her a foot off the floor then slammed her down against it again, knocking the back of her head and dizzying her.

"Where is he!" It growled.

She shook her head, sobbing. "I don't know!"

"Don't you lie to me, Claudia, you know I don't like being lied to."

"I swear I don’t know where he is!" She cried. “I woke up one morning and he was gone.”

It arched Sal’s eyebrow and squeezed around Claudia’s throat tight enough for little lights to erupt in her vision.

“I trusted you to take care of him and yet you let this happen.”

She scratched the skin of Sal’s arm but the demon didn’t flinch.

It sighed. "How long since he’s been _missing_ then?"

It let up on her throat and she gasped in air.

“I don’t know.” Her throat rattled when she spoke.

It scoffed and rolled Sal’s eyes. “Please list the things that you _do_ know, dear, because the little patience I have is wearing thinner.”

“Maybe one of your enemies came and took him without you knowing.” She said as her lungs burned.

It pursed Sal’s lips then plunged the letter opener into the flesh of Claudia’s side, making her scream.

“I know what you’ve been doing Claudia.” It twisted the blade and leaned closer to her ear. “Going around town, leaving him places, pretending to forget you even brought him with you, trying to lose him.”—Claudia sobbed—“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” It sighed against her face. “I’ll give you one more chance and after that,” It hummed. “I think maybe I’ll revisit that idea about making you eat your husband’s entrails.”

"No!" She cried out. "No, please wait just...you said you wanted someone to take care of him didn't you? Well…I _couldn’t_ , but now…now someone will. Why not just go to _them_?"

“Because I can’t feel him anymore,” It replied. “And that can only mean one thing.”

“No, no he’s alive.” She assured with a gasp.

“How can you promise me that when you don’t know where he is?” The demon replied in a teasing tone before yanking the letter opener from her side.

She watched as the demon studied the blade before pressing it to Sal’s tongue and licking it clean of blood.

“He’ll find him.” Claudia grunted, her whole body shaking. “My husband's out there looking for him.”

 “Is that so?” It asked.

“Yes,” Claudia breathed.

It hummed as it dropped the letter opener then used that hand to push Sal’s fingers between Claudia’s lips to pry her mouth open.

“Whaduya say we go out there and help him look?”

Claudia screamed as Sal’s jaws open and out poured the black smoke into her own mouth.

The demon used her hands to push Sal’s slumped body to the floor then sighed. Claudia could feel it rifling through her memories as it laid there with her hands over her middle and her legs crossed at the ankles.

“Claudia, Claudia, Claudia,” It tutted when it was done. “You clever cow.” It leaned her head to the side and looked at Sal’s body then leered.

"Fine." The demon said as it picked up the letter opener again. "You wanna be crazy?" It straddled Sal’s limp body, "I'll make you crazy,” then jammed the letter opener into her chest over and over again until blood was sprayed over all of Claudia’s clothes.

Once it was done, it stared down at Sal’s bloody form and giggled.


End file.
